The Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera in June

Join Classical 91.5 FM for five outstanding broadcasts from Chicago's Lyric Opera this June. The Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera broadcast series continues Saturdays at 1 p.m. on Classical 91.5/FM-HD 91.5-1. The Matthew Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera Broadcasts are produced by George Preston. WFMTâ€™s program director Peter Whorf is managing producer, and WFMTâ€™s general manager Steve Robinson is executive producer

On Saturday, June 2 at 1 p.m. the series presents R. Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Viennaâ€™s richest man is planning an incredible party. First â€“ guests will enjoy a serious opera (the Prima Donna plays Ariadne, whoâ€™s ready to die on the island of Naxos because her loverâ€™s jilted her). Then comes a ribald comedy, starring saucy Zerbinetta (whoâ€™s got a Ph.D. in flirting). And finally, thereâ€™s to be a pyrotechnic display.

Mozart's The Magic Flute airs Saturday, June 9 at 1 p.m.With a hapless and endearing birdcatcher as his sidekick, Prince Tamino is searching for the girl of his dreams. The mysterious Queen of the Night says her daughterâ€™s the one â€” and just waiting to be rescued from the evil wizard, Sarastro. But it turns out heâ€™s not the evil one at all! A young coupleâ€™s journey to adulthood, the search for universal truths, Masonic rituals and religious allegory â€” Flute gives us much to ponder, and music thatâ€™s a wondrous joy!

Verdi's Aida airs Saturday, June 16 at 1 p.m. At the heart of this opera is a treacherous love triangle and a relationship that was never meant to be. Aida, the enslaved Ethiopian princess, and Radames, leader of the Egyptian army that conquered her homeland, long to be together forever. But someone else wants Radames, too â€“ itâ€™s Amneris, the jealous daughter of the Pharaoh himself!

J. Kern's Show Boat airs Saturday, June 23 at 1 p.m. Created in 1927, this seminal masterpiece gave American musical theater and opera a new voice â€“ one with powerful subject matter, astonishing musical variety and an unmistakably American atmosphere. Moving from 1890s Mississippi to Chicago to â€śRoaring '20sâ€ť Broadway, Show Boat follows the lives of a company of theater folk â€” deeply involving us in their triumphs and sorrows, while illuminating the racial and social changes that were shaping the country.

The radio broadcast series concludes on Saturday, June 30 at 1 p.m. with Handel's Rinaldo. With Jerusalem as the prize, General Goffredo and his chief knight Rinaldo are battling it out with King Argante. But the kingâ€™s lover and ally is the sorceress Armida â€” and she uses every trick in her arsenal to help win the war. Good thing Rinaldo has some supernatural reinforcements of his own!ď»ż